Vacuum evaporating apparatus.



No. 709,172. Patented Sept. I6, I902.

c. mmwAY,

VACUUM EVAPORIATING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Dec. 4, 1901.)

2 Sheets-$heet I.

(No Model.)

Patented Sept. l6, I902.

c. ORDWAY. VACUUM EVAPORATING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Dec. 4. 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

we ucnms PETERS co, PFIOYO-LKTnO-WASH Nirnn rants ATENT Enron,

CHARLES ORDWAY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

VACUUM EVAPORATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 709,172, datedSeptember 16, 1902.

Application filed December 4, 1901. Serial No.84,611. (No model.

To all whom/ it nuty concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES ORDWAY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in thecounty ofKings and State of New York, (post-office address Times Building, NewYork city, New York,) have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Vacuum Evaporating Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forining a part of the same.

The present invention relates generally to vacuum evaporating apparatus,and particu-' larly to the construction of an effect for use in suchapparatus; and it consists in the various features of construction andthe combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described andclaimed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one form of an effect embodying theinvention, in which the same reference characters refer to similar partsin both figures.

Figure 1 is a vertical section along the line on no of Fig. 2, and Fig.2 is a side elevation of an effect comprising three sections.

Referring to the drawings, A, A and A represent diiferent sections ofthe effect, which are of substantially the same construcllOI]. Eachsection comprises the following principal parts, viz: shells B, eachinclosing a battery of heating-tubes B; a liquor-chamher 0; avapo1'-chamberD; tubes B connecting the upper ends of the shells withthe Vaporchamber; tubes 13*, connecting the lower ends of the shellswith the liquor-chaniher; a jacketed downtake E, connecting the vaporand the liquor chambers; a vacuumleg F, extending downward from theliquor-. chamber. In addition to these principal parts each section isprovided with a vaporinlet F and a vapor-outlet D" and its extension F aliquor-inlet E at the lower end of jacket E of downtake E, andliquor-outlet E at or near the upper end of the jacket. The severalsections are provided with flanges formed on the liquor and vaporchambers and on thevapor-outlet tubes F by means of which any desirednumber of such sections can be readily united to form a single effect orcan be easily and quickly separated for convenience of transportationand repair.

chamber of the eifect.

The main parts of the individual sections are also provided with flangesfor the same purposes. The sections are' supported upon any suitablebase, as O below which the vacuum-legF extends. The heating-tubes B maybe secured in place in the shells B in any suitable way. As shown in thedrawings, Fig. 1,their ends are expanded into the tubesheets B which areclamped between the flanges of the shells and the adjacent tubes B and15* to form heating-chambers, Within which the tubes B are located. Thevaporchamber D is preferably provided with dashplates D and D arrangedto intercept particles of solid or liquid matter which may be carriedwith .the vapor, the plates D being in front of the opening D while theplates D are staggered relatively to plates D to cause the vapor to takea circuitous path in its passage through the vaporchamber to thevaporoutlet. It is the function of the jacket E to provide for thecirculation of a body of cool liquid in contactwith the wall of thedowntake for the purpose of lowering the temperature of the heatedliquor therein, and thereby increase its specific gravity to cause orfacilitate the precipitation of salts or other solid matter contained inthe heated liquor. For the purpose of obtaining a larger cooling-surfacethe outer surface of the downtake may beinoreased in any well-known way,as may the outer surface of thejacket, if desired.

Any liquid or fluid may be circulated through thejacket to cool theliquor in the downtake;

but for econom in workim it is ireferred to 0 use freshliquor Whichis tobe concentrated in the apparatus and to pass it directly from the jacketin its heated condition to the liquor- For this purpose the freshliquoris fed by gravity or bya suitable pumpfrom a source of supply topipe E in communication with the lower end of the jacket, and aftercirculating around the downtakeit passes into pipe E which communicateswith the upper end of the jacket, and thence through a pipe E into theliquor-chainber C through inlet A. I

In order to promote the free circulation of the liquor in theliquor-chamber and to prevent or break up the stratification of liquorof varying density therein, it is important to carry the lower end E ofthe downtake well down toward the bottom of the chamber, so that theforce of the discharge therefrom will produce the desired agitation andresulting circulation of the liquor at or near the bottom of thechamber, Where the denser and more objectionable Stratification isliable to take place. It is also desirable that the lower end of thedowntake be in line with the flared hole 0 at the top of the vacuum-legF, so that the precipitates as they are discharged from the downtakewill fall directly into the vacuum-leg rather than be deposited on thebottom of the liquor-chamber to interfere with the circulation. Thebottom or boot F of the vacuum-leg should be about thirty-two feet belowthe liquor-chamber, and the inclined branch in which the screw con veyerF works should preferably rise above the level of the liquor in theeffect.

The chambers surrounding the heatingtubes B within the shells B areprovided with drip-pipes F each of which communicates with thecontinuous pipe F by which the water of condensation is carried off. Adenotes eyeglasses in the heads of the vaporchamber, through which itsinterior can be observed and any obstruction of proper circulation canbe detected.

As stated, any desired number of sections may be united to form a singleeffect, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and such effect may be usedas an evaporating apparatus by connecting the vapor-discharge pipe F ofthe last or right-hand section with a condenser and vacuum-pump andadmitting steam or other heating-vapor into the pipe F, whichcommunicates through pipes F with the interior of the shells B andoperates to evaporate the liquor as it passes through the tubes B fromthe liquor to the vapor chambers, the liquor to be concentrated beingfed to pipe E, which communicates with the lower end of the jacketsurrounding the downtake of each section, and after circulating aroundthe downtakes it passes into tube E and through tube E into the commonliquor-chamber C.

It is observed that an effect may comprise only a single section, as Aof Fig. 2, which would be complete by providing the open ends of theliquor and vapor chambers with heads corresponding to heads A and A ofsection A and leading theliquor-pipe E into the liquor-chamber ofsection A.

It is desirable in order to obtain the greatest efticiency inevaporation to unite several of the single effects herein described inmultiple to produce a multiple evaporating apparatus, and this can bereadily done in any of the well-known ways.

In operation it is preferred that the feed of the liquor to an effectshould be so proportioned to its evaporation and discharge that thelevel of the liquid alone apart from the vapor caused byevaporation-that is to say, the liquor level assuming that noevaporation is taking place in the effect, will be somewhat above thelower ends of the heating-tubes B, preferably at about one fourth toone-third the height of these tubes. The circulation of the liquor afterit enters the liquor-chamber is through the tubes 13, through theheating-tubes B to the vaporchamber, and thence through the downtake tothe chamber again, and this circulation may be continued until thedesired concentration is reached, when the liquor may be drawn off atthe discharge A or until the solid matters contained in the liquor havebeen sufficiently precipitated therefrom.

A multiple-effect evaporator comprising a number of eifects of theconstruction herein described is especially advantageous and efficientin the concentration of liquors which contain a considerable proportionof solid matter which is precipitated by cooling the concentratedliquoras, for example, salt solutions,caustic-soda solutions containingfree salt, and certain saccharin solutions.

It is readily seen from the foregoing description and accompanyingdrawings that whenever it is desired to obtain greater heating surfacein an evaporating eifect any number of additional sections may be easilyand quickly united to such efiect and that the several sections of aneffect may be readily separated from each other; also, that the mainparts of each section are easily removable for the purposes of cleaningand repair and that such parts, as well as the sections themselves, areinterchangeable, which contributes to the ease and facility of ereetingalarge evaporatingapparatus.

It is evident that many modifications may be made in the construction ofthe evaporating effect herein described, and shown in the drawings, andthat parts of such construction may be used without employing all of thesame. I do not, therefore, desire that my invention be limited to theparticular form of apparatus shown in this case; but what I claim as newand wish to protect by Letters Patent is set forth in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed as new is 1. In evaporating apparatus, an effectcomprising a series of similar sections each of said sections beingprovided with flanges to readily assemble the same to form said efiect,each of said sections comprising a vaporchamber, a liquor-chamber, avertical downtake connecting said vapor-chamber and said liquor-chamberand extending nearly to the bottom of said liquor-chamber, two batteriesof vertical heating-tubes arranged adjacent said downtake on either sideof the same, flanged connections connecting said heating- .tubes withsaid vapor-chamber and said liquor-chamber to enable said heating-tubesto be readily removed from said chambers, a vacuum-leg connected withsaid liquor-chamber substantially in line with said downtake, a boot atthe lower end of said vacuum-leg, a screw conveyer communicating withsaid boot, said liquor-chamber being formed adjacent said vacuum-legwith a flared hole to di rect material into said vacuum-leg, a jacketsurrounding said downtake and connections to feed the liquor into saidjacket to cool said downtake and to feed said liquor from said jacketinto said liquorchamber.

2. In evaporating apparatus, a sectional effect comprising a series ofsimilar sections bolted together by connecting-flanges formed on saidsections, each one of said sections comprising a vapor-chamber, aliquor-chamber, a vertical downt-ake connecting said vaporchamber andsaid liquor-chamber and two batteries of heating-tubes arranged oneither side of said downtake and connected to said liquor-chamber andsaid vapor-chamber to form a sectional'etfect which may be readilyvaried in capacity by varying the number of sections in said efiect.

3. In evaporating apparatus, an effect comprising a series of similarsectionsprovided with flanges to readily assemble said sections,

each of said sections comprising a vaporchamber having bathe-plates, aliquor-chamber and a vertical downtake connecting said vapor-chamberwith said liq nor-chamber and extending nearly to the bottom of saidliquorchamber, batteries of tubes mounted adjacent said downtake andconnected to said liquor-chamber and said vapor-chamber, said sectionswhen assembled having the liquorchambers and vapor-chambers incommunication to form common liquor and vapor chambers.

4. In evaporating apparatus, an effect comprising a series of similarsections, said sections being provided with opposing flanges on thevapor and liquor chambers of said sections to be bolted together toreadily connect said sections together, each of said sections comprisinga vapor-chamber, a liquor-chamber, a vertical downtake connecting saidchambers and two batteries of heating-tubes arranged on either side ofsaid downtake and connected to said liquor-chamber and saidvapor-chamber.

5. In evaporating apparatus, an effect comprising a series of similarsections, said sections being provided with opposing flanges on thevapor and liquor chambers of said sec tions to be bolted together toreadily connect said sections and form an efiect having a common vaporand liquor chamber extending the whole length of the same, each of saidsections com prising a vapor-chamber having baffle-plates arrangedtherein, a liquor-chamber, a vertical downtake connecting said chambersand two batteries of heating-tubes arranged on either side of saiddowntake and connected to said liquor-chamber and said vapor-chamber.

6. In evaporating apparatus, an effect comprising a vapor-chamber, aliquor-chamber provided with a vacuum-leg, a vertical downtakeconnecting said vapor-chamber and said liquor-chamber and extendingnearly to the bottom of said liquor-chamber and substantially in linewith said vacuum-leg, batteries of heating-tubes connected to saidliquorchamber and said vapor-chamber, a jacket surrounding said downtakeand connections by which liquor fed to said efiect enters said jacket tocool the liquor in said dowutake and is fed from said jacket into saidliquorchamber.

7. In evaporating apparatus, an effect comprising a vapor-chamber, aliquor-chamber, a vertical downtake connecting said vaporchamber andsaid liquor-chamber and extending nearly to the bottom of saidliquorchamber, batteries of vertical heating-tubes arranged adjacentsaid downtakel and communicating with said vapor-chamber and saidliquor-chamber, a vacuum-leg connected to said liquor-chamber andsubstantially in line with said downtake, means to remove material fromsaid vacuu m-leg, a jacket surrounding said downtake and means to securea circulation of fluid in said jacket to cool said downtake.

8. In evaporating apparatus, an efiect comprising a vapor-chamber, aliquor-chamber, batteries of heatingtubes communicating with saidvapor-chamber and said liquorchamber, avertical downtalze communicatingwith said vapor-chamber and said liquorchamber, a jacket around saiddowntake, means to supply fluid to said jacket to cool the liquor insaid downtake and means to remove precipitated material from saidliquorchamber.

9. In evaporating apparatus, an effect con1- prising a vapor-chamber, aliquor-chamber, heating-tubes connected to said vapor-chamber and saidliquor-chamber, a downtake connected to said vapor-chamber and saidliquorchamber, a jacket surrounding said downtake and means to cause acirculation of fluid in said jacket to cool said downtake.

CHAS. ORDWAY.

Witnesses:

JOHN N. MOORE, H. B. ELDRIDGE.

